


Football

by Dassy1407



Category: One Direction, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Football, Injury, Love, M/M, Soccer, Sports, aw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 04:14:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2177484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dassy1407/pseuds/Dassy1407
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall bridges the gap between rivals sports at his school, and when he creates a bridge of true love between the rival captains, shit goes down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Football

Years ago, football (also known as soccer in American culture) ruled the school in a small town in England. It was the only team the school was able to fully support financially and the students actually had talent in. But then there was a request for a new sport: American Football. The school accepted the foreign sport into their school, changing the name of the original football to Soccer to disperse confusion. But when members of the soccer team switched to play the American game, a rivalry sparked.  
Now, years later, both teams were thriving in the papers and success. An unofficial war rested between them. The players never conversed or participated in the other sport; it was like it was against their rights as a player of their sport. As well as hatred for the opposite sport, the members had a spurring hatred for the members of the other team. Fights would often break out between the players and there were arguments with the administrators over practice time in the fields, gym and weight room.  
Introducing Niall Horan: The only member of the school willing to build a bridge between the two teams. He is the school photographer and is in charge of the sports section of the school news paper as well as the yearbook. Being a social butterfly, he managed to befriend members of both teams. But one day he realized he may have made too strong of a bridge between the rivaling teams.  
~  
Niall noticed a lot of things. While in the halls he could normally tell who was having a rough day just by how they were walking. When a teacher asked if they knew if anyone was absent from a class of rowdy kids, Niall could normally point out exactly who was not in the room. He was an observer, which was why he always had a camera around his neck. He was the school photographer, both for their newspaper and for the yearbook. He always managed to capture the perfect moments in students’ lives. His favorite thing to photograph was the games. Unlike the rest of the school, Niall never got hounded for attending both football and soccer games during the fall season. At first people just said “He has an excuse to be at both games.” He was the school photographer after all. But not only was he a fan of both sports and a fan of taking photographs of their players, but he also had some of his best friends on both teams.  
All knew that fact, but for some reason, no one ever seemed to hound him about it. Niall was kind of friends when everyone if you really thought about it, and apparently no one honestly cared if he communicated with members of both teams. He was the only exception though. Niall had seen first hand when a new kid was caught talking to Jensen Hendricks one day but then was hanging out with Josh Devine the next. Jensen was co-captain of the football team and he was furious when he saw the kid hanging out with the goalie of the soccer team. Let’s just say that the new kid ended up getting his ass kicked and eventually he was forced to change schools.  
While Niall felt the entire ordeal was overdramatic and unnecessary, he also found it comical at how he managed to slip the wrath of both rival teams. He wondered if it had to do with the fact that two of his closest best friends were both captains of their respective teams.  
That’s why, when he found himself by the fence snapping photos of the football captain, Liam Payne, running down the field with the football clutched under his arm, he found himself noticing something a little off with the crowd behind him. The crowded stands roared for their brilliant captain as he ran for the touchdown, but when Niall turned around, he spotted one fan sitting silently in the far corner of the stands.  
No one ever came to a football match and didn’t cheer at the top of their lungs when the captain made a touch down. Liam wasn’t captain for nothing. He was brilliant at any place the coach put him in on the field, though quarter back was his favorite position.  
So seeing the figure—completely wearing black, their hoodie pulled up over their head and their head turned as if he didn’t want anyone to see past his ninja-like disguise—just sit there when their team scored was confusing to Niall. He stayed facing the crowd, his eyes focused in on the silent figure in the corner. They were just far enough away but close enough to the crowd to appear inconspicuous and unnoticeable to the others. But Niall, unlike the other rowdy fans, was a person who noticed everything. He didn’t care that he was missing great pictures of the team celebrating their touchdown by hoisting Liam onto their shoulders—he was too focused in on this stranger.  
Then, as the figure raised his head just a little too high, Niall realized that the figure wasn’t a stranger to him. He was none other than soccer team captain, Louis Tomlinson. In a dash, Niall found himself running over to his other captain friend. He wasn’t sure if he was more confused at why the boy, who was supposed to despise this rival team, was sitting on the bleachers of its fans, or more scared for the boy’s well being.  
As soon as Niall sat down next to the black-cloaked boy, he realized that being there also scared Louis. “What the hell, Niall?!” Louis yelped, almost jumping right off the edge of the bleachers. He pushed his large black sun glasses closer to his face. They did a good job at hiding Louis’s face, but Niall wasn’t stupid.  
Niall quickly put a hand on Louis’s shoulder because the soccer player looked like he was about to bolt. “What are you doing here, Louis?” Niall demanded immediately.  
“Shut up!” Louis hissed, jabbing Niall in the leg. Louis’s knees were rocking from side to side as if he were contemplating running away.  
Niall turned his head to the crowd, but everyone elses’ attention was out on the field where the kicker, Zayn Malik, was preparing to earn their team even more points. Not that they needed them because they were already way ahead thanks to Liam’s multiple touchdowns tonight. When Niall turned back to Louis, he saw that the boy had his eyes plastered on the backs of the rest of the team on the sidelines. Niall ducked his head and muttered, “Are you guys planning a prank?” he asked, because he honestly could find no other reason for Louis to be there.  
Louis shook his head and pulled his hood further around his face.  
“Then what are you doing here?” Niall asked, genuinely confused and worried, especially when Louis tilted his head and smirked.  
“It’s your fault I’m here,” Louis replied with a coy smirk.  
Niall blanched. “How is it my fault?” He tried recalling a bet he made or prank he created, but he was coming up blank. “I don’t see how I influenced this suicide mission,” he added quietly because this is exactly what it was. If anyone caught Louis there, it would cause another battle in the war. Things had been calm recently due to the season just beginning, but even something small could cause things to explode again.  
Louis cleared his throat, his smirk still not leaving his face. “Do you remember that fitness and leadership training summer camp you recommended me to last year?”  
“Yeah…” Niall raised an eyebrow.  
“You recommended Liam to the same one,” Louis added and Niall’s eyes widened.  
“I did? Oh shit,” Niall gasped, his hand flying to his mouth. His uncle had told him about the camp over Christmas dinner last year. Though Niall had zero interest in sports or strength training, he knew his friends would benefit from it. He remembered telling Louis about it before school let out, but he had completely forgotten he also told Liam about the same program right after Christmas break. “So you both went to it?” he asked when Louis looked back out onto the field. Now that he made the connection, he noticed that Louis wasn’t just watching the game, but he was watching Liam.  
“Yep. Thought he was going to kill me when he saw me,” Louis shrugged, still smirking.  
“That must have been hell,” Niall said. He had only seen his friends cross paths a few times before, and though no fists were ever thrown in his presence, he knew the captains hatred for each other was the strongest of the rivals.  
Louis chuckled at this, which only confused Niall more. Why did he look so happy?  
“I’m sorry, Louis,” Niall offered, squinting his eyes slightly because even though it explained why both Liam and Louis were “out of town” for two weeks at the camp last summer, it still didn’t explain why Louis was here, now, watching Liam play his first game of the season.  
Louis patted Niall’s back and began to stand. “Meet me tomorrow for coffee tomorrow and I‘ll explain?” he asked. “I’ll send you the address,” he added before finally getting his chance to bolt from the bleachers.  
Niall watched him disappear around the corner and realized that no one would have seen the famous Louis Tomlinson stalking Liam Payne’s football match. If anyone had caught him, what would have happened? Niall wasn’t sure, but he really didn’t want to find out.  
Later that night, after tagging along with the football team to a pizza joint for celebration, Niall got a text message from Louis, telling him to meet him at the coffee shop that Niall was certain was two towns over, but he didn’t question it. Instead, he curled up for a good nights rest, though he didn’t get one because all night he kept dreaming of Louis and Liam planning ways to kill each other while asleep in their itchy sleeping bags at that summer training camp.  
~  
The next morning came too quickly and Niall thought about just telling his mom that he was sick and having her tend to him all Saturday just so he could stay in bed. But not only was his mom out of town with his dad, he also had to catch a bus to make it to the café two towns over to meet Louis by noon. So he forced himself out of bed and he got ready, catching the 10 o’clock bus.  
He arrived early to the café, but as soon as he entered the quaint little building, he heard Louis’s signature laugh. As Niall made his way through the tightly positioned tables towards where he could still hear Louis giggling, he tried to picture what was making Louis laugh this time. It wasn’t hard to make Louis laugh, mostly he made himself laugh, but it could have been a joke that the barista just told him, or he could have been making a pyramid when the tiny packets of creamer on the table.  
Out of all the possibilities, Niall never expected the source of Louis’s laughter to be coming from the boy sitting right next to Louis at the café table: Liam Payne. Niall froze where he stood, watching as Liam’s hands gently reached out to poke Louis’s side. Louis jumped and laughed again, his cheeks flaming red. Niall’s eyes returned to Liam, who was grinning as if Louis’s laugh was the best noise he’s ever heard.  
“Uh, ‘kay, um, well…” Niall was dumbfounded and he couldn’t actually form words to express his confusion as he stared at the two boys pretty much cuddling in the corner of the café.  
It was Liam who snapped out of the staring fest first and turned to face Niall. “Oh, hey Ni,” he said casually and Niall almost wanted to hit him because nothing about this situation was normal.  
Despite Niall’s obvious confused expression, Liam’s kind and gentle tone didn’t falter when he continued, “Take a seat? I ordered you a milkshake because I know you don’t like coffee.”  
Niall, still at a lost for words, took a seat on the cold chair in front of the pair. Louis had his hand stretched a little too far away from him to be resting in his own lap, and Niall just knew that it was resting on Liam’s thigh.  
“Here you go,” the barista cheerfully laid out three drinks; Niall’s milkshake, Liam’s coffee, and tea for Louis. Of course.  
“You look like you’re going to pass out,” Louis noticed and he nudged the milkshake closer to Niall. “Take a sip, relax.”  
Niall did as he was told and took a sip of the milkshake. Only then did he find his voice. “What is going on?”  
Louis’s grin brightened and he learned forward as if telling him a juicy secret, and actually, it was. “It was a summer love,” he said quietly.  
Liam rolled his eyes. “You say that as if it’s over,” he said and sighed slightly.  
“Love?” Niall felt like his brain finally caught up with him and everything slammed into his mind at once. “You’re in love? How is that possible? You hate each other,” he said as if it were obvious.  
“We did,” Louis shrugged. “But thanks to you, we don’t anymore.”  
Niall nodded slowly. “Because of the summer camp…”  
Liam nodded. “Yeah. We were forced to room together. Which, by the way, if we had cell phone service, I totally would have called you that first day and bitched you out,” he said, and Niall knew it was true because even though Liam was one of the nicest kids around, he never joked around about the rival in the school.  
“But now we’d like to officially say thank you!” Louis said happily. “If it weren’t for you I never would have realized how amazing Liam actually is,” he said and turned towards the football player before smacking his lips against his cheek.  
Liam’s face scrunched up with a smile and his cheeks turned red.  
“I love it when you blush,” Louis noted, which caused Liam to blush deeper.  
“This is so messed up,” Niall said, letting his head fall down onto the table.  
“I agree,” Liam said with a smirk. “But it happened, and I can’t change how I feel.”  
Niall quickly raised his head. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I’m happy for you,” he added quickly and for the first time that day, he smiled. “As strange as it is, you two are disgustingly cute together,” he chuckled. It was confusing, and scary too, because these two were the captains of rival teams. They were supposed to hate each other for all eternity. “I just never would have guessed when I saw Louis last night at the game, that this was why he was there.”  
Liam’s face paled. “You saw him at the game?”  
“Yeah, but don’t worry babe, no one else did,” Louis lifted his hand from Liam’s lap and grabbed Liam’s wrist from the table, holding it firmly.  
“But what if someone else did see you, Lou? Your life would be hell,” Liam said, looking extremely worried.  
“No one saw me,” Louis assured.  
“If anyone did see him, they didn’t care,” Niall added.  
Liam still looked worried. “Of course they’d care. Everyone in the damn school cares about this stupid rivalry and if they catch you, Lou, they will try to rip us apart.”  
Louis shook his head, gripping tightly onto Liam’s hand. “No one can take me from you, Liam, okay? I promise that,” he said comfortingly and Liam relaxed.  
“I feel like I’m dreaming,” Niall let out a long breath after a few moments.  
“Oh, so you’ve dreamt about your two best friends hooking up?” Louis laughed as Liam slipped his hand from Louis’s to put it around the soccer player’s waist.  
“Gross, no, but I figured that I would have to be dreaming for you to even be civil towards each other, let alone this,” he gestured to the couple.  
“I don’t think either of us saw this coming,” Louis admitted, leaning into Liam’s touch.  
Niall, though happy, was also scared for his friends. “What happens if you do get caught?”  
This seemed to dampen the mood further and both boys looked at Niall with sad expressions. “Nothing good,” Louis said, frowning.  
“Shit, guys, I didn’t mean to bring it up, but,” Niall sighed. “Kids at school are pricks and this rivalry has been going on for decades.”  
“We know, Ni,” Liam said, comfortingly squeezing Louis’s side.  
“Does anyone else know besides me?” Niall asked, knowing that the pair both had friends who were strong members of the rivalry.  
“Our families, but that’s it,” Liam shrugged.  
“And it’s going to stay that way, okay? Or at least until we graduate in the spring,” Louis said.  
“Good plan,” Niall said. “I won’t tell anyone,” he promised.  
“Thank you,” Liam smiled. “And it’s good to have someone else know.”  
“Especially you, Niall,” Louis grinned. “I’ve been wanting to thank you for a while. It’s all thanks to you!”  
As Louis and Liam curled closer together, whispering to each other in their own little world, Niall felt himself smiling and whispering under his breath, “All thanks to me.”  
~  
When Niall walked into the cafeteria the following Monday, his brown paper bagged lunch clutched in his hand, he immediately walked over to Liam’s table and sat down beside him.  
“This is new,” Liam said, but didn’t say anything else as he poked at his lunch.  
“Change of scenery,” Niall shrugged. He normally sat with his yearbook friends during lunch, but today he just felt like he wanted to sit with Liam.  
“And it has nothing to do with what you learned over the weekend?” Liam asked quietly.  
Niall shook his head. “I did nothing all weekend,” he lied, speaking loudly because Liam’s right hand man, Zayn Malik, came over and sat on the other side of Liam.  
“What brings you to our humble abode, Niall?” Zayn asked, though he didn’t seem bothered by it. It would have been the same if Niall had sat with Louis today. Louis’s co-captain, Harry Styles, would have probably just stolen Niall’s food. Because even though they couldn’t all be friends together, apart from Louis and Liam of course, the boys could only get along with Niall, not each other.  
“Not to take pictures of your ugly mug, that’s for sure,” Niall poked fun because he knew how aware Zayn was of his impossible good looks.  
Zayn reached across Liam and shoved Niall lightly. “Shove off. You love my face,” he smirked and then stole one of Liam’s fries. “Earth to Liam?”  
Only then did Niall realize that Liam was staring off into space. Not space really, his eyes were focused in on Louis’s face as he entered and walked towards his own table on the other side of the room.  
Niall kicked Liam’s shin hard and Liam jumped. “Huh? What?” he startled, looking away from the soccer captain and looking frantically between Zayn and Niall.  
“What are you staring at?” Zayn asked turning his head and pushing into Liam’s space to try and figure out what the boy had been looking at.  
“Nothing,” Liam stated sharply. “I, uh, was just thinking. Worried about the next game, that’s all,” he shrugged, lowering his head and stabbing his fork into the lasagna on his tray.  
“The one against the Jefferson Knight’s? Why the hell would you be worried about that? It’ll be a piece of cake,” Zayn said but then was pulled into another conversation from the other end of the table.  
Niall scooted closer to Liam and whispered, “You have to be careful, mate. You two get caught and not only will your own team members hate your guts, but they could hurt you both.”  
Liam gulped at Niall’s warning but he nodded. “I know,” he said, keeping his head low.  
Niall wanted to apologize for being so harsh, but he wasn’t sure if Liam or Louis understood how crazy this rivalry was. How dangerous it could be. So when he saw Louis getting poked out of his own staring gaze at his star crossed lover across the cafeteria, Niall wondered how long those two were actually going to pull this off.  
~  
“Is that a bruise on your shin?” Louis asked as soon as Liam stepped back to pull his pants back on. Louis was lounged across Liam’s bed, Liam’s sheets covering his lower half. Not that Liam didn’t just see and feel every inch of Louis’s body with his mouth, but Louis did have some decency to cover up after they had sex.  
Liam paused in his act of pulling his jeans back on to look at the small bruise on his shin. “Huh, yah. Niall kicked me today at lunch,” he said and finished pulling his pants back on.  
“Why did he kick you?” Louis asked, sitting up and catching his shirt when Liam threw it to him. “Though I should be more impressed that the little bugger managed to leave a bruise,” he smirked.  
Liam laughed at that. “He’s tougher than you’d think,” he said and slipped his t-shirt over his head. “He caught me staring at you at lunch. If he hadn’t have kicked me I probably would have started drooling,” Liam admitted, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “You looked absolutely fit today by the way,” he said with a charming grin.  
Louis smiled and scooted closer to Liam, his lower half still only partially covered by a sheet. “Oh, is that why you insisted we shag before we go on our date this evening?” he asked, resting his chin on Liam’s muscled shoulder.  
Liam’s cheeks flared and he shrugged, successfully knocking Louis’s head off. “Maybe. But we still have dinner plans, remember?”  
Louis nodded and then got up, wiggling into his tight jeans. “Good, I’m starved.”  
“We got an hour drive to get there,” Liam reminded him.  
Louis frowned but said, “I know.” He wasn’t mad that they had to nearly drive an hour out of town just to go somewhere without risking getting seen together. It just bothered him because he would like to hold Liam’s hand in the school hallways and make out with him in the back of their local movie theatre without worrying about every member of their school jumping them.  
Liam must have noticed Louis’s shoulders slouch because he tapped underneath Louis’s chin and then kissed his lips. “I love you,” he mumbled into the kiss.  
“I love you too,” Louis breathed and all his worries disappeared. Because to be with Liam and not risk him getting hurt, all the long distance travel dates were worth it. “Let’s go,” he said, gripping Liam’s hand and leading him out to his car.  
~  
After their splendid date, Louis walked Liam to his back door. (his front door held too many possibilities for someone to see them). “So I won’t see you again until Wednesday?” Liam pouted.  
“It’s only two days, if that. I have practice tomorrow after school, and so do you,” Louis pointed out but then hugged him.  
Liam sighed against Louis’s neck. “I’m nervous about the game Wednesday,” he said.  
“Why?” Louis pulled away, keeping his hands on Liam’s arms.  
Liam shrugged. “I just have a bad feeling.”  
“Jefferson is an easy win, though,” Louis said. He didn’t follow much of his school’s American football team, obviously, until getting with Liam, but he knew that Jefferson’s sports teams sucked regardless of the sport.  
“I know, but I just can’t help but thinking that we’re not going to win. And if we don’t, it’ll be that much harder to make it to the championships.”  
“You’ll be fine, Li,” Louis encouraged and then kissed him on the mouth. “You’ll do great because I’ll be in the stands.”  
Liam smiled at that and then kissed Louis again before they said goodnight and went their separate ways.  
~  
“I’m surprised you’re risking it again,” Niall told Louis once he spotted the darkly clothed figure sitting off by himself on the bleachers. It was Wednesday and Liam was playing great.  
“It would be less of a risk if you didn’t sit with me,” Louis pointed out, pulling his coat tighter around his shoulders.  
“Why didn’t you bring a heavier coat?” Niall asked, because it was probably the coldest day of the season so far and Louis was wearing the thinnest clothes he’s ever seen.  
“I don’t own much black,” Louis shrugged.  
“Ya know, you’d probably be less conspicuous of you’d wear normal clothes and didn’t try to dress like The Men In Black.”  
“Shush,” Louis scolded, pushing his large sun glasses further up on his nose as Zayn handed the ball back to Liam, who took off down the field with it. “Besides,” Louis continued once Liam was tackled only a few yards later. “I’m surrounded by the parents, who don’t really care about the rival and have no clue who I am.” It was true actually, because Louis was further up in the stands this time with lots of people in front of him.  
“Let’s hope you’re right,” Niall said and scooted down a row to get better shots of the team. He was capturing a great shot of Liam catching the ball from Zayn again, moments before he took off down the field. The crowd all rose to their feet and Niall did the same, continuously snapping pictures of Liam running down the field.  
“What’s happening, Niall?!” Louis yelled from behind him and Niall glanced back for a moment to see Louis still sitting, looking small in the crowd that was all standing around him. He was looking up at Niall and even though Niall couldn’t see his eyes behind the glasses, he knew they were wide with eagerness. It must be hard not to be able to jump up and cheer for your boyfriend. That would have brought too much attention to Louis and his disguise would blow up.  
“Hang on!” Niall shouted over the roaring crowd and he looked back to the field. He continued to snap pictures, but didn’t bother looking through the lens. He watched as Liam jumped through the air to avoid two apposing players from tackling him. Time went in slow motion and all Niall could hear was the continuous clicking of his shutter, capturing every moment of Liam’s dramatic jump. From two sides, Jefferson football players jumped into the air with Liam and for a long moment, Liam’s body was pinned in the air between the two burly players. Then time continued and Liam’s body twisted and the three boys fell. Niall let out a gasp as Liam landed hard on the ground, the ball rolling from his arms.  
The crowd’s roars grew louder, but this time from surprise and with gasps.  
“Niall, what happened?” Louis shouted from below him.  
“I-it’s uh,” Niall gasped for breath, watching as the Jefferson players jumped to their feet, brushing off their knees. Liam didn’t follow their actions. He didn’t get up. He was still down and unmoving. “It’s Liam,” he stated, though he knew his voice shook.  
“What?!” Louis gasped and Niall felt a harsh tug on his coat. “What’s happening?!” Louis demanded and began to get to his feet.  
“He’s not getting up.” Niall’s worry grew when their coach ran onto the field and other players all gathered around where Liam lay.  
“Wh-what do you mean?” Louis was then standing beside him, his sun glasses yanked off. “Oh god,” he gasped.  
“I mean, he’s not getting up,” Niall gritted, the camera slipping through his fingers and the strap catching on his neck.  
Louis immediately threw his glasses on the ground and shoved his way through the crowd.  
“Lou!” Niall yelled, reaching out to grab Louis’s sweatshirt but the boy was already gone. Niall—less violently than Louis—pushed through the crowd and watched Louis jump the fence and run across the field to where the school nurse was kneeling down beside Liam.  
Niall followed suit and caught up to Louis as he broke through the crowd. “Liam?!” Louis gasped again as Niall yanked on his shoulder.  
“What are you doing?!” Niall shouted at him, but it was too late. The entire football team was now staring at the rival soccer team’s captain.  
“What the fuck are you doing here?!” Zayn yelled at Louis.  
Louis ignored Zayn and knelt down beside the nurse. “Liam?” he called but Liam’s eyes were closed inside his helmet.  
“We’ve called an ambulance, they’re on their way,” a man announced from inside the crowd surrounding the fallen football player.  
“Back up, please,” the nurse demanded when Louis tried to grab Liam’s hand.  
Louis glared but stood up and backed away because the ambulance was already backing into the field towards them.  
“You didn’t answer my question,” Zayn snapped, yanking off his helmet and throwing it to the ground. He grabbed Louis by the collar of his shirt and shook him.  
“Zayn, stop!” Niall jumped to them and tried to pray Zayn’s hands off of Louis’s shirt. He could see the tears in Louis’s eyes already and Zayn wasn’t too far behind.  
“No! Tell me why the hell you’re here, you prick!” Zayn jostled Louis harder who just shook his head, refusing to answer. How could he? If he blurted out that he was Liam’s boyfriend right now, that would just infuriate Zayn more.  
“Move!” Someone shouted and only then did Zayn release Louis’s shirt. They all turned to watch Liam be loaded onto a stretcher and then into an ambulance.  
“Jesus Christ,” Zayn muttered, running his hand down the side of his face.  
“I’ll drive you both to the hospital,” Niall offered because neither looked in the state to drive themselves. Niall was worried for his friend, true, but he felt like he was in better control than the other two. As he led the two trembling boys to his car, he added, “But for the sake of everything, don’t talk to each other!”  
~  
True to Niall’s command, Zayn and Louis didn’t speak to one another on the ride there and continued to remain silent as they waited in the waiting room.  
Niall could tell that Zayn still wanted to know why Louis was there in the first place, let alone waiting with them to hear Liam’s condition, but apparently the worry for Liam overcame his frustrated curiosity.  
When Liam’s mom arrived, she went straight to Louis and pulled him in a hug. “Oh goodness, what happened?” she asked, already in tears.  
“I don’t know…” Louis’s voice broke and he dropped his head. “I-I didn’t see, I just,” he stopped and let out a small sob. “I’m sorry.”  
“It’s okay sweetie, it’s not your fault,” Karen said calmly and then looked over at Zayn, who was her son’s best friend.  
Zayn cleared his throat and said. “He was tackled; two other guys pinned him in the air and he just—” his voice caught in his throat.  
Niall bit his lip before continuing, “The collision with the other players looked hard. It didn’t even look real,” he confessed. “Then when he went down, he didn’t get up.”  
Karen let out a sob at the same time Louis did and she hugged him tighter. “He’s going to be okay,” she said, trying to stay brave. She pulled out of the hug and put her hands on both of Louis’s cheeks. “He’s lucky to have you in his life, Louis,” she said and kissed his cheek before leaving to call Liam’s father.  
“’Lucky to have you in his life’?” Zayn raised his head and glared at Louis.  
Louis gulped but nodded. “I guess there’s no use denying it now,” he spoke in a low tone, tears still rolling down his cheeks. “Liam and I are dating,” he spit out.  
Zayn just continued to glare, but then he just stood up and said, “Niall, take me back to my car.”  
Niall frowned. “What?”  
“Just take me back to the car. My mum will call Karen later to see how he is.”  
Niall was too scared to say no, so he asked Louis, “Call me as soon as you hear anything?” Then he walked with Zayn back to his car. The dark haired boy was silent as Niall drove him back to the football field. Zayn only muttered a small “Thanks,” before getting into his own car and driving off.  
Niall returned home and lay in bed for hours before Louis finally called him.  
“Hello?”  
Louis was no longer sobbing, but his voice was raw and scratchy like he only just managed to stop crying. With a trembling voice, Louis calmly said, “Liam’s back is broken and he can’t feel his legs.”

**Author's Note:**

> To be continued... thoughts? :)


End file.
